Ascent Trip Report

Did this hike from SE face (Turkey Creek Tr) with wife and friends, and the pace was not fast. Getting to the true trailhead takes a very competant 4WD truck (we decided not to risk it even with our 4Runner), but a regular sedan can easily get to within 1.4 miles of the trailhead if you don't mind walking the 4WD road to the trailhead. The route requires several trail changes, but it's well-marked and can be navigated with a basic park map. The elevation gain is not gradual, but in spurts. On the way down, we stopped at Manning Cabin, which is pretty interesting. We underestimated the pace and hiked the last 2-3 hrs in the dark, but fortunately had flashlights. Overall, a challenging, enhoyable hike that can be done in a day if you get an early start. Took us about 13.5 hrs roundtrip, but a better pace would probably put it at about 11 hrs. Not much view from the summit, but about .2 miles south of the summit is Spud Rock, which is off the left of the trail and takes a little climbing to get to. We skipped it, but in hindsight, it probably would have been worth it for the view.